5 Tech Innovations That Will Change the Way We Fly

Until travelers stop choosing flights based mostly on price, rewards status, and the best-of-direct options, airlines won’t dramatically improve the air-travel experience. There just isn’t a great business case for carriers—which are enjoying record profits—to invest in improved services if they’re not going to enhance their bottom line. To wit, American Airlines earned $2.7 billion last year, a bonanza it’s sharing in the form of free sandwiches to economy passengers—as long as they’re on nonstop flights between New York and San Francisco or Los Angeles.

That being said, these five tech innovations (all of which were discussed at the Millennial 20/20 summit in New York earlier this month) benefit both airline and traveler. And, as such, seem likely to be on your phone, on the ground, or in the air in the not-too-distant future.

The blockchain will track your checked luggage.

If you know anything about the blockchain, it’s that it’s the technology underpinning bitcoin, the crypto-currency that’s previous travel-related use was for taking a ride down the Silk Road and then maybe on to jail.

An alliance between the consultancy Accenture and travel-centric IT company Amadeus, however, proposes using the blockchain—which The Economist describes as “a shared, trusted, public ledger that everyone can inspect, but which no single user controls”—to track checked bags. (Full disclosure: At Millennial 20/20, Accenture hired me to moderate a live Periscope chat).

Airlines would use the blockchain to constantly monitor every movement a piece of luggage makes as it travels through airports, baggage trucks, belt loaders, and airplanes—much as the blockchain monitors and validates each bitcoin transaction. Not only should this approach allow airlines to better know your bag’s whereabouts, but it also should improve the odds of it arriving in the correct place—in part because such detailed monitoring would make individual baggage handlers personally accountable.

We’ve all boarded an airplane, walked by empty seats in business class, and wondered how much it’d take to upgrade but not having an option to do so. Apps like Seatfrog will give you that info—and allow you to act on it. Add your flight to the app and it’ll notify you when an auction is starting for fliers to bid on an upgrade (assuming there are open spots), as well as the current price and what your fellow passengers/rivals are willing to pay. Should you be the top bidder, Seatfrog automatically sends your mobile device the updated boarding pass.

Rather than relying on seat-back monitors for entertainment and paper catalogs for shopping, services like MiniMe-Labs’s FlyNBuy would bring those choices to your laptop, tablet, or smartphone (a similar setup to what the Four Seasons Private Jet offers). Install an app on your personal device and you’ll connect to an onboard server. Instead of waiting for a flight attendant to come by and take your order, fliers would be able to order food or beverages via the app, meaning quicker delivery and less congested aisles. Buy merchandise from a digital in-flight catalog and you could arrange for delivery at home or your final destination.

And rather than having to figure out how to navigate the airplane’s entertainment system, you’d be using a device you’re already familiar with. Also, those screens only have your own germs on them, so no more need to antibac an onboard entertainment system.

Chatbots will answer your easy questions—before you ask them.

Right now, chatbots can help with simple requests like airline searches, weather forecasts, and pointing out highlights in a destination. But if you have a complex travel problem (“Help, I’m in Davos but my ski pants ended up in Des Moines!”), you’ll still want to talk to a human.

Chatbots like the ones GoHero.ai and the WS Group are developing are promising, though. As they learn from human interactions and mine more data, bots will be able to address complex problems, like having replacement ski pants couriered to your hotel while your lost luggage is shipped back to your house. They may even offer to improve your trip in a way you hadn’t considered. For example, after booking a trip to Washington, D.C. via a Facebook chatbot, it may ask you if you want a reservation at a José Andrés restaurant while you're in town, knowing that you like the chef’s Facebook page. (Yes, your privacy concerns are legit—but no doubt there’ll be a lengthy user agreement you’ll simply click okay to and be off enjoying gazpacho before you know it.)

Customized travel alerts will reduce missed flights.

Accessing both real-time and historical, anonymized data from cell towers, airports, and airlines could predict busy times. That info, coupled with personal information about travelers, then would be used to send customized travel alerts, according to Accenture and Amadeus. The single business traveler who always arrives at the last minute via Lyft, for example, may get a message encouraging him to arrive earlier than usual. Meanwhile, a family of five checking five bags—but little chance of making their flight—could be told to relax; they've already been rebooked on the next one to their destination.